Two years ago, doctors told Kelly Reed she would never walk again.
On Sunday, she’ll prove how wrong they were. The Arlington Heights native will compete in the Accenture Chicago Triathlon, a race that will mark the end of a long struggle for the former professional triathlete, who was nearly paralyzed after being struck by a 15-ton truck in 2002.
In the first months after the accident, Reed, 30, couldn’t feel her legs. A morphine drip helped dull the pain. She spent hours at the local pool, floating until her fingers shriveled, hoping for the feeling in her legs to return. There were hours of physical therapy. Then, after seven months, a sign of hope: She could wiggle a toe.
Doctors strapped her into a walking machine that moved her limbs and supported her body. In the pool Reed held onto the lane ropes and touched her toes to the bottom to feel what it would be like to walk again.
She took her first unassisted steps a few weeks later. Each day, she walked a little farther. In the pool she swam laps with a buoy and a band around her legs. Over the next year she got back on her bike and eventually returned to the track.
Sunday will be her first triathlon since the accident. She’ll run with a scar on her right leg–a spot of shrunken muscle where she can faintly make out the outline of tire markings.
“To run the last 100 meters and see the finish line,” she said, “it’ll be the biggest thing.”
